


Adventures in Babysitting!

by bookworm84



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-05
Updated: 2016-01-05
Packaged: 2018-05-11 23:33:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5645860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bookworm84/pseuds/bookworm84
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve babysits Joan for the weekend with Danny's help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Adventures in Babysitting!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cowboykillers](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cowboykillers/gifts).



> Beta'd by Knights13!

There were many things that Steve McGarrett was comfortable doing. He could lead a team of Navy SEALs through a mission without breaking sweat. He led his 5-0 Task Force through investigations that held high stakes on a daily basis where getting shot at was just another day at the office. He willingly would put himself in harm's way without a second thought to protect any member of his ohana. But there was something that slightly terrified Steve, (though he’d never admit that out loud), and that was children. He had always been awkward around kids up until he met Danny’s daughter, Grace. Gracie made it easy for him to be around her as she bulldozed her way into his heart and Steve would do anything for that kid. 

When Steve found out that Mary had adopted a baby, he was happy for her. However, he would be lying if he had said he wasn’t at least a little worried about it. Mary was trying hard to straighten her life out but it wasn’t without difficulty. She still found herself in some difficult situations and maybe it would have been better for Mary to have waited a few more years until she had some more stability but he wasn’t going to fault her for the adoption. If anything, Steve had hoped that it’d help ground Mary even more. Steve was resolved to to keep his eye on Mary and help her out whenever and wherever he could. 

The first time that Steve had met Joanie, it was instant love. When he first held his niece, he was worried that he was going to drop her or hold her incorrectly. He worried whether she ate enough or rested enough. He watched her with eagle eyes as she crawled around the living room and explored his home. He tried to take cues from Mary and when she didn’t seem too concerned that Joanie was crawling around, he tried to relax but he still found himself fixated on his niece and ensuring that she stayed safe. He couldn’t help it. It was in his nature. 

*****

Mary had just recently arrived in Hawaii with Joan and Steve was happy to have them in his house. Joan was now walking, although assisted by furniture, and she was becoming even more curious about her surroundings. Before their arrival, Steve had drove Danny insane with the constant questions about baby-proofing his house. He had spent countless of hours on his computer researching how to baby-proof the house. Every electrical outlet was covered by plastic plugs. The corners of his coffee table and other furniture had corner bumpers on them. He had bolted the tv and the dressers in each of the bedrooms down. Anything that could be pulled off of a table and on top of Joanie was either put away or moved back and out of reach. Cupboards had latches installed, the toilet had a lock on it and baby gates had been installed at the top of the staircase on the second floor as well as at the bottom. After Steve had baby proofed his house, he had dragged Danny over to his house and got him to do an inspection. Danny insisted that he had covered all of the bases but Steve still felt that he could do more. 

“Relax, babe.” Danny had told him. “I of all people know just how terrifying it is to have a toddler running around your house. I guarantee you, my friend, that you are going to have half a dozen heart attacks before she leaves no matter what safety equipment you install.” Danny’s attention moved to a bag that Steve had placed on the stairs. He walked over it and glanced inside before pulling out a pink helmet that was small but would still be too big on Joan. “What’s this?” 

Steve glanced between the helmet in Danny’s hand and his partner, instantly wishing that he had put the bag away. “It’s nothing. Put it back.” Steve tried to deflect. Would Danny accept the reason that Steve had bought the helmet was classified? Probably not. 

“No, no. There has to be a story behind this and I want to know what it is. This helmet cannot possibly for Grace as it’s way too small and it’s _definitely_ not for you as pink is not your colour.” 

Steve walked over to Danny, taking the helmet from his partner and stuffing it back into the bag. The purchase had seemed like a good idea at the time. When he was in the store, he was reminded of a conversation that he had with Danny the first year that they had met. Danny had told him that it was a fact that a hundred and fifty people die every year from falling coconuts. Steve had teased Danny about wanting Gracie to wear a helmet around coconut trees but when he was standing in the store looking at the helmets, he thought that his partner had a good point and the helmet had found it’s way into his cart. But there was no way that Steve was going to admit this to his best friend. 

“It’s for when Joanie gets older. I thought she’d like it so I bought it and I’m going to put it away for when she can use it.” Steve glanced at Danny who was wearing a huge grin. It was obvious that Danny knew that wasn’t the exact reason. The question is, would he let it go. 

“You know a hundred and fifty people die a year from falling coconuts, Steven.” Danny’s hand gestured in an upwards motion as a grin grew across his face. “It’s a fact that I read online. Does this, by any chance, have anything to do with the helmet?” 

“Shut up, Daniel!” Steve said, taking the bag and shoving it into the coat closet.

“By the way, since when did you start drinking apple juice?” Danny asked, pointing to a plastic cup of yellow liquid. 

Steve shifted his weight on his feet. “That’s….uh….that’s not apple juice.” Ever since installing the toilet lock, Steve hasn’t been able to figure out how to unlock it and desperate times called for desperate measures. He just knew that he was never going to hear the end of this from his partner. 

Danny took a few minutes, studying the cup and the rest of the house before he turned to Steve. “You can’t get into your toilet, can you?” He started laughing. 

“Would you shut up and just show me how to work the lock!” Steve demanded. He knew that having Danny over to inspect the house was a bad idea. 

“You’re an animal.” Danny chuckled, following Steve to the bathroom. 

*****

A week into Mary and Joan’s visit, Steve’s house had been inundated with children’s toys. His house was a mess as it seemed that both his sister and his niece followed the same “pile” system as Danny did. Even though it bothered him to see his house in such a disarray, he wasn’t making a big deal out of it as he was thoroughly enjoying having his sister and niece with him. Earlier in the week, Mary had asked Steve if he would be okay to babysit Joan for the weekend as she wanted to visit with some old friends. He of course agreed. Thankfully the case that Five-0 had been working on had wrapped up. Steve finished some small tasks before packing it in for the evening and heading home. When he arrived home, he saw that his house was in more disarray than it was in the morning. Going to the kitchen, he grabbed a beer before returning to the living room where he started picking up Joan’s toys. If anyone asked what he was doing, he’d claim that he was trying to ensure there was no fire hazards obstructing the door. Before long, Mary came down from upstairs with her overnight bag. 

“Hey! I didn’t hear you come in! Joan is sleeping. She should be good until the morning. The kid can sleep like a rock.” Mary said. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”

Steve waved off her concern even though he was doubting that this was going to go smoothly but he wanted his sister to have a good time with her friends and didn’t want her to worry about Joan. “Everything is going to be fine, Mare. Joanie and I are going to have a great time. Don’t you worry about anything.” He pulled his sister into a hug. “I’m proud of you, Mary.” It was true. She was trying hard to straighten her life around and after spending the week watching Mary with Joan, he could see how much his sister had grown. 

Mary’s arms wrapped around him and she returned his hug. “Thanks, Steve.” She pulled back and looked up at her brother. “Do you need to go over anything before I go?” 

Steve shook his head. “I’m good Mare. Just go and have fun.” 

“Okay.” Mary frowned, glancing at the stairs. It was almost as though she was second guessing her decision to take off for the weekend. “Call me if there’s any problems.” 

“I will. Now get out of here!” Steve commanded with a grin and he watched Mary leave.

When the door closed behind Mary, Steve stood at the bottom of his stairs and looked up. He could do this. How hard could it be? 

*******  
It was Saturday afternoon and Steve sat on the couch as Joan was on the floor sleeping as she had crashed after playing with some of her toys. Steve threw a blanket over her as he didn’t have the heart to move her and he was slightly afraid that if he tried to move her, she’d wake up. It had already been a long day and it was still just the early afternoon. Even though Mary had said Joan would sleep through the night, she hadn’t. She had started fussing around 3:00 a.m. and it took him about two hours to settle her down again. Another hour and a half later, Joan was up and ready to start her day. After he attempted to feed her breakfast, which was mostly Joan making a mess of it, he spent the morning watching her toddle around the living room, crouching behind her, ready to catch her when she let go of the furniture and fell.

He looked at his shirt, which was stained with various baby foods. Watching his sleeping niece for a few moments, Steve stretched out on the couch, throwing his arm over his eyes to shield the light out. He was a light sleeper. As soon as Joan made noise, he’d wake up.  
******

Danny knew that Steve was babysitting Joan for the weekend and he decided to go over and see how things were going. Mostly he was curious to see if Steve had been able to master the toilet lock yet. Arriving at the McGarrett house, Danny let himself in as he normally did. He was about to call Steve’s name out but he caught himself before he did as he saw that his partner was sound asleep on the couch. Joan was sitting up and gave Danny a grin that showed off her few teeth before she put a red block in her mouth. Danny went over to Joan and picked her up. “What did you do to your poor Uncle Steve, huh? By the looks of it, his BUD/S training was easier than this. Come on, let’s get you something to snack on that’s not plastic.”

*******

When Steve woke up, he glanced over to the floor to see that Joan was missing and he shot instantly to his feet and started looking around the room. “Joan?!” What if she got outside somehow? She wasn’t wearing the helmet or a lifejacket! He glanced to the stairs and was relieved to see that the baby gate was closed so there was no way she could have made her way up the stairs. He went to the front door, opening the door and pausing when he found that it was unlocked. He was positive that he had locked it. Glancing to the driveway, his brow furrowed when he saw the black camaro parked outside. Danny was here. 

Closing the door, Steve went to the kitchen and found it empty. Glancing through the window, he saw his partner and niece outside. Joan was on a towel on the sand with some of her toys scattered around her while Danny sat beside her, stacking some blocks and then knocking them over, eliciting a round of giggles from his niece. Steve couldn’t help but stand there and watch for a few minutes. 

Danny was good with kids. He was a natural with them and it was a talent that Steve envied. Instead of feeling awkward around kids, Danny knew exactly what to do. There was nothing better than watching him with Grace. His best friend was a good father and Steve had meant it when he had told the Judge that Danny was the kind of father everyone wished they had. 

Steve eventually made his way outside and over to his partner and niece and sat down. “Hey. How long have you been here?” 

Danny looked over at Steve. “Not too long. Half an hour to forty-five minutes? I came over to see how you were making out and to make sure the house was still standing. Joan was awake so I gave her a snack and brought her out here to play to keep the house quiet.” Danny started stacking the blocks for Joan and knocked them over and both of the men grinned as Joan giggled hysterically. 

“Why didn’t you wake me up?” Steve reached over and grabbed a block, putting it on top of the tower that Danny was making. 

“It’s not a big deal. By the looks of it, Hell Week was probably easier for you and it was no trouble to watch her while you got some sleep.” 

Steve gave a small smirk at Danny’s joke. “She hasn’t been that bad. Just all of a sudden she has an aversion to sleep. How did you and Rachel manage it?”

Danny shrugged. “There’s a lot of second guessing yourself. Is she warm enough? Is she too warm? Is she hungry? Does she hate me? I think I spent the first three years of Grace’s life absolutely terrified and convinced that I was doing everything wrong. Then it got a little easier when she learned to talk and could tell us what she wanted. Then I think of the fact that the teenage years are coming and I’m even more terrified. It’s a lot easier when you have another person to share it with. You learn to tag team and at the end of the day you are both exhausted but you look at your kid and know it’s all worth it.” Danny stacked the blocks up for Joan again. 

Steve nodded. He didn’t know how Mary was doing this on her own. “You’re a great father Danny. You raised a good kid.” 

“At least one good thing came out of my marriage.” Danny looked over to Steve, squinting his eyes against the glare of the sun. “Why don’t you go take a shower and change your clothes. You look like an animal and I’m sure Joan doesn’t want to be reminded that you fed her peas for breakfast.”

Steve looked over at his niece. “You sure?”

Danny nodded. “Positive, babe. I’ve got her. You go get cleaned up.” 

“Thanks.” Steve hung out on the sand a bit longer before he got to his feet. He went inside and as he passed the closet, he opened it, pulling out the helmet that he had bought for Joanie. Taking it back outside, he placed it on his niece’s head even though it was way too big for her. He didn’t have any coconut trees in his backyard but one couldn’t be too careful.


End file.
